Vintage racers know all to well the difficulty there can be when it comes to finding appropriate tires for the race track, as the odd rim sizes of classic motorcycles are often outside the sizing parameters of good modern sticky tires. This leaves many racers using street-focused tires for their racing needs, but that could all come to an end, as Metzeler is expanding its Racetec RR Range to include 18-inch wheel sizes. Going forward from today’s announcement, the Metzeler Racetec RR DOT race tire will come in the company’s K1 compound (Metzeler’s softest compound), in the following sizes: 110/80-ZR18 (58W) front, and 150/65-ZR18(69W) & 160/60-ZR18 (70W) rear tires.

For reasons beyond our imagination and comprehension, the failed business experiment that was the Skully AR-1 helmet has been revived by new investors. Sending out a blast to the “Skully Nation” email list, the brand’s new owners Ivan and Rafael Contreras, have announced their plans to revive this seemingly dead project. One can barely fathom why someone would want to continue a project that so obviously was doomed to its own failure, and that also so grossly betrayed the goodwill of the motorcycle community; and yet, here we are, with Skully Technologies taking over where Skully, Inc. left off. The presumption of this news is that the new management hopes to bring the AR-1 helmet, with its heads-up display technology, to market.

The Nike Air Force 1 shoe is perhaps the most iconic piece of footwear ever created. It spurred an entire industry of sneakerheads – people who collect and trade shoes – and the Nike AF1 is one of the most collectible items for this genre of collector. So, it’s not surprising that there is industry buzz about a new Nike Air Force 1 being created. With each release, Nike has kept AF1 brand in line with its urban roots, where playing basketball on the street gave rise to young kids who would dream of following their heroes, like Michael Jordan, onto the courts of the NBA. Now having more of a cult following, Nike has been branching out with its AF1 offerings, and last month the sport brand debuted a special AF1, which pays tribute to Baltimore’s 12 O’Clock Boys.

Two labor unions have ended a partnership agreement with Harley-Davidson, citing differences with how the Bar & Shield brand handles staffing issues at its factories (Harley has been accused of replacing hourly union workers with temporary seasonal workers). The move comes after a meeting on Monday, which saw leaders from the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM), United Steelworkers (USW), and Harley-Davidson President & CEO Matt Levatich unable to agree on how to handle staffing issues going forward. While the disagreement ends an accord that has existed between the unions and Harley-Davidson for the past two decades, it does not affect the collective bargaining agreement that the unions have with Harley-Davidson, which has been incorrectly reported elsewhere.

Say what you will about American politics, but the US House of Representatives has passed the “SELF-DRIVE Act” (H.R. 3388) – a bipartisan bill that would open up autonomous vehicle regulation for manufacturers. The big advantage of the SELF-DRIVE Act is that it would supersede the varying and ad hoc state rules that manufacturers must currently adhere to while developing their autonomous platforms. The bill would also do away with some safety standards put in place for vehicles with drivers, such as where the steering wheel and foot pedals must be located. Lastly, the SELF-DRIVE Act would require the Department of Transportation (DOT) to research and develop a way of conveying to consumers the level of automation a vehicle possesses.

In early 2016, I was fortunate enough to ride the revamped and Euro4 version of the MV Agusta Brutale 800. On paper, the Brutale 800 lost power and gained weight, but the reality is that MV Agusta improved upon already one of its best-selling machines, in subtle and clever ways. Now a year-and-a-half later, the 2017 MV Agusta Brutale 800 is finally available in the United States, and I have been reunited with one of the best street bikes on the market. Spending almost all of last month with this motorcycle again, it is clear that not much has changed from a rider’s perspective, though internally improvements have been made to some of the weaker elements of the design, like the sprag clutch and valve train. While not much has changed with this year’s edition of the MV Agusta Brutale 800, I am mostly fine with that.

What happened when Valentino Rossi crashed? How serious is his injury? When will he be back? Who will replace Rossi, if he doesn’t return at Aragon? And what does Yamaha think of Rossi’s training methods? Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis spoke to a small group of journalists at Misano on Saturday morning, to answer these questions and much more. Jarvis knew about the accident very shortly after it had happened. “I knew before he got to the hospital,” Jarvis told us. “Albi [Tebaldi] called Maio Meregalli as soon as he got the news that Vale was on the way to the hospital. Maio called me straight away.” The good news was that Rossi’s injury was not as bad as the last time he broke his leg, at Mugello in 2010. “It’s much less serious,” Jarvis told us, “but probably just as irritating.

While the launch of the Ducati’s Desmosedici Stradale V4 engine and leaked photos of the Ducati Panigale V4 dominated the news on Thursday, Aprilia Racing was quietly changing the sport of motorcycle racing, as it debuted an augmented reality helmet that its mechanics will wear in MotoGP. Aprilia has partnered with DAQRI and Realmore to make the augmented reality helmet come to fruition – DARQI is making the hardware, while Realmore is responsible for the software. As followers of augmented reality (AR) tech may already have guessed, Aprilia Racing’s AR helmet will allow its mechanics to visualize and share information, overlaid on what is occurring in the pit box. Aprilia Racing sees two major scenarios where using augmented reality could be of benefit.

Apparently today is Ducati Day, as news continues to come from Italy about the Ducati Panigale V4 and its Desmosedici Stradale engine. Ducati has already spilled the beans on the new 210hp V4 engine it has been developing for its next superbike, but now we also get more spy photos of the Panigale V4 that will carry it. These latest spy photos show quite clearly the 2018 Ducati Panigale V4 that will debut later this November, at the EICMA show in Milan. Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali confirmed the Panigale V4 name today, and for our A&R Pro members, we have gone into a lengthy analysis as to why Ducati is choosing to keep the styling and name of this machine so similar to the previous model.

Hello and welcome to a new era of Ducati motorcycles, which is starting with a very special engine. Named the Desmosedici Stradale, this road-going version of the company’s MotoGP power plant is what is going to power Ducati’s next superbike, the Ducati Panigale V4. Debuting today in Misano, at a special event ahead of the San Marino GP, the mystery around the Desmosedici Stradale engine has finally be revealed, to the tune of 210hp (@ 13,000 rpm) and 88.5 lbs•ft of torque (@ 12,250 rpm). Dropping details on the 90° V4 engine with desmodromic valves, we now know that Ducati will continue to play the displacement game with its superbike, as the street version of the Panigale V4 coming with a 1,103cc displacement.

Math can be tough sometimes, especially when it comes to counting, so we can understand the confusion surrounding the news that Erik Buell has recently been awarded a patent for a design that incorporates a motorcycle exhaust system inside the swingarm of the bike (now that’s some engineering). However we have the unpleasant responsibility of saying that this patent is not in fact owned by Erik Buell and Erik Buell Racing, as the filing date and patent assignee information were clearly over-looked by early reports on Buell’s patent.

While the patent was published on October 28, 2010, its was filed by Buell last year (April 24, 2010), well before Harley-Davidson closed the company, and while Erik Buell still worked as a Harley-Davidson employee. As such, the patent is assigned to the Buell Motorcycle Company, whose intellectual property is still owned by Harley-Davidson.

When we talk about Buell motorcycles that fail to see the light of day, people are almost universally referring to the Buell Barracuda, the 1190cc successor to the 1125R series. Dubbed “The Buell We Wouldn’t Have to Make Excuses For”, the Barracuda lives on in many ways in the EBR 1190RR superbike, which we’ll see next year take its street-going form as the EBR 1190RS.

While the limited-production EBR 1190RS certainly is exciting to think about, and the Buellisti are already counting down the days until Erik Buell re-enters the street bike market, what has us chomping at the bit is the fact that in 2009 Spanish design firm Edda Design was commissioned by Buell to revamp the 1125CR street bike; and with the result they came up with, we wouldn’t mind seeing life breathed back into that project, just like the Barracuda.

Erik Buell Racing continues to pump the interwebs with material on its EBR 1190RS street bike, the 1190cc v-twin American street bike. In what looks to be Part 1 of a multiple-part video series, EBR throws a bunch of cut-scenes together, giving us only a quick glimpse of the 1190RS. Although details are scarce about the winged-stead, we do know that the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS will be based of EBR’s 1190RR race bike, which was based in-turn off the now defunct Buell Barracuda 2.

Unfortunately Harley-Davidson closed down Buell before the Barracuda 2 could make it into production, thus gaining the ire of Buelltisti (we think that’s a word) around the world. Reports that the EBR 1190RS can be fueled by the sheer will of Erik Buell and tears of a unicorn might be exagereated, but we’re not certain. Enough fluff text, check the video after the jump.

Erik Buell Racing has quietly been “tipping” sites off to the fact that Buell’s record label, Rat Pak Records, is selling t-shirts for a Erik Buell Racing 1190RS motorcycle. What is the 1190RS you ask? “The 1190RS will be the new street bike from Erik Buell Racing! The design is currently in the pre-production / testing stage and is not yet available for public sale,” says the website (Asphalt & Rubber brought you the first teaser of the 1190RS way back in July). However, a video of the pre-pre-production 1190RS will be up on September 14th, officially making this a teasing of a teaser video (are you still with us?).

Before you Buell fans start getting all in a tizzy, we have to break the news that the hype being generated about the EBR 1190RS is more about raising money for Erik Buell Racing, than announcing an upcoming motorcycle. Erik Buell & Co. have been making the rounds to investors looking for capital to build-out its production line, reportedly with little success. With a company built around a “never say die” attitude, Erik Buell hasn’t given up looking for cash (buy more t-shirts people!), and the 1190RS announcement is a way for EBR to show that there is a market demand for its motorcycles. Once the market is proven to exist, EBR is hoping investors will then open up their wallets.

Erik Buell Racing has posted some more photos of the EBR 1190RR to its Facebook page. With the 1190RR’s black paint, and fairly “buellesque” lines, there isn’t too much here that will surprise people. However, we did find the head-on view interesting as it shows the 1190RR’s almost tear drop profile. The curve of the fairings going from top to bottom almost look like an airplane foil, which should make for good ground clearance during full lean. Check the photos out after the jump.

Erik Buell Racing has just updated its website, and releasd the first real clear shot of what the EBR 1190RR will look like it in its racing form. With 185hp being made at the rear-wheel (according to the optimistic DynoJet dynamometer), the EBR 1190RR sits at the top of the Buell totem poll. Erik Buell Racing has spec’d the machine to be legal in both the AMA and WSBK, but the 1190RR is not homologated for neither the AMA American Superbike class (yet?), nor for WSBK (even bigger question mark).

Based off the 1125R chassis, the 1190RR is virtually anorexic, dropping 30lbs off the AMA Daytona Superbike racing machine, while still bumping up displacement by 65cc’s. With 93lb•ft of torque on hand at 9,500 RPM, the EBR 1190RR is sure to sling your eye balls into the back of your head…if you can find a racing series to race it in. Full technical specifications after the jump.

As Erik Buell Racing begins to take shape (the company has now taken over the erikbuellracing.com domain), details about the company are starting to come forth. First up is the news that EBR will offer three race versions of the 1125 platform. The most interesting of these three bikes being the 1190RR, an 1190cc race machine made to take advantage of the latest racing rules for v-twins in the Superbike category at the world level.

Harley-Davidson, Inc. has just announced that Erik Buell, Chairman and Chief Technical Officer of the soon to be closed Buell Motorcycle Company, will leave the company to establish Erik Buell Racing, an independent motorcycle race shop that will specialize in making 1125R-based racing motorcycles and parts.

What do you do when the financial arm of your company goes from making $100 million a year to losing $100 million a year? Why you kill off two other brands in your company of course. That is the move the Keith Wandell and the Harley-Davidson board of directors made yesterday with their announcement of shutting down Buell, and selling off MV Agusta. Realizing that the Harley-Davidson brand accounts for the majority of Harley-Davidson Inc.’s income, Harley-Davidson executives saw there being little choice but to sacrifice its other two holdings to save their namesake.